Power mechanism for operating ground-breaking devices



E. E. TOWLE.

POWER MECHANISM FOR OPERATING enouwo BREAKING DEVICES.

Patented May 17, 1921.

APPLICATION FILED APR-9,1919.

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E. E. TOWLE.

POWER MECHANISM FOR OPERATING GROUND BREAKING DEVICES.

APPLICATION FILED APR-9. I9I9.

Patented May 17, 1921.

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APPUCATLON FlLED-APR.9, 1919. 1,378,432.

Patented May 17 1921.

E. E. TOWLE. I POWER MECHANISM FOR OPERATING GROUND BREAKING DEVICES.

Patented May 17,1921.

4 SHEEIS-SHEET 4.

APPLICATION FILED APR.9, 1919.

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ELMER E. TOWLE, OF RICHMOND, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERICAN SEEDING MACHINE COMPANY, OF SPRINGFIELD, OHIO, A CORPORATION OF OHIO.

POWER MECHANISM FOR OPERATING GROUND-BREAKING DEVICES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 9, 1919. Serial No. 288,769.

T 0 all whmiz it may concern Be it known that I, ELMER E. TowLE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of ,lVayne and State of Indiana, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Power Mechanism for Operating Ground-Breaking Devices, of which-the following-is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in lifting and lowering mechanism for the furrow openers of seeding machines and the like, it more particularly relating to a lifting and lowering and pressure applying mechanism of the power operated type.

' One of the objects of my invention is to provide mechanism of the character referred to in which power operated devices are incorporated for varying the pressure upon the furrow openers, the more particular object in this connection being to provide regulating means for the power pressure devices which will permit the furrow openers to be raised to a uniform height regardless of the adjustment of the regulating means.

A further object of my invention is to provide a mechanism of the character referred to which will be simple in construction and effective in operation.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a perspective view of a mechanism embodying my improvements.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same with some of the parts shown in sections.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view showing the pressure: regulating devices inone p sition of adjustment, and also showing the parts in he position assumed after the controlling lever has been operated to engage the clutch member and release the parts.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view showing the pressure regulating devices in a different position of adjustment, and the control lever in normal position.

Fig. 5 is a view of the rear end of the mechanism showing the same in raised pos tion.

Fig. 6 is a view of the front end of the mechanism, showing the same in raised position.

Fig. 7 is a side view of one of the clutch members.

Referring to the drawings, 1, represents a portion of the frame of a grain drill or other machine to which the mechanism is applied. The axle of the machine, which is rotatably connected with the carrying wheels is indicated by2, and 3 indicates the usual rock shaft which carries the lifter arms 4', one. only being shown in the present case, to the rocking cup-shaped plate 5 of which is loosely-"hung the lifter rod 6 of the furrow opening device, shown in the present second clutch member 12 in the nature of out of engagement with the teeth when the parts are in their inoperative position by either one of the two cams 20 and 21 which project laterally from a disk 22 the hub of which is loosely journaled upon the axle. A controlling lever 23, pivotally connected to the disk near its outer periphery by the pin 24, serves as the means for rotating the disk so as to cause the tail of the dog to ride off the cam with which it is engaged and allow the nose of the dog to be thrown by its spring into engagement with the ratchet wheel. This causes a rotary movement to be imparted to the eccentric 12,, this rotary movement being arrested when the succeeding cam engages the tail of the dog and lifts the nose thereof out of engagement with the ratchet wheel. The control lever .23 may be operated by a cord suitably connected therewith and extending to, any convenient point within reach of the operator and returns to its inoperative position so soon 'as released under stress of the spring 25, at-

Patented May 17, 1921.

tached at one end to the lever and at the other end to a stud 25 on the disk 22 diametrically opposite the pivot pin 24. \Vhen the lever is operated by the cord it is pulled forwardly while the pin 25 moves rearwardly, thus placing the spring under ten sion so that when the lever is released it not only returns to normal position. but also the disk.

The strap 13 of the eccentric has a segment of a gear 26 which is in mesh with a second gear segment 27, loosely mounted upon the rock shaft 3. The hub 27 of the gear segment 27 has an arm 28 and rigidly connected to the rock shaft at the rear of the arm 28 is a crank arm 29. lVhen the parts are thrown in operative relation with the axle in the manner before described, the arm 28, contacting with the arm 29, rotates the shaft 3 and raises the furrow openers, assuming that they are in a lowered position; the parts being held in this position by a catch 30 which is pivoted on a bolt 31 which projects laterally from one side of a strap 32, which strap, together with a companion strap 33, both pivoted on the rock shaft at their upper ends and having a pivotal connection with the segment 26, serve to maintain said segment in proper mesh with the segment 27. The. catch 30 has a shoulder 34 which engages with the forward side of either one of two diametrically opposite lugs 36, on the hub of the eccentric disk, one of said lugs extending from the housing 15; the latch being pulled into engaging position by a spring 37 fastened to a projection 38 on said catch at one end and to the hub of the disk 22 at the other end. A cam 39 on the disk 22 contacting with the projection 38 and also with a projection 40 on the catch, serves to lift itout of engagement with the lug 36 with which'it is engaged, when the control lever is operated, so as to unlock the parts. \Vhen the furrow openers are in lowered posit-ion and the lower end of the strap 32 to which the latch 30 is pivoted has been swung rearwardly by the action of the eccentric, the projection 40 will lie to the rear of and in the path of the inclined rear end 39 of the cam so as to be engaged thereby to lift the latch upon a subsequent lifting movement of the mechanism. When, however, the furrow openers are in raised position, and the catch has been carried forwardly by the action of the eccentric upon the strap, the parts will be in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 4 so that a subsequent lowering movement of the mechanism will cause the cam surface 39 to contact the projection 38 and move it to the position shown in Fig. 3 to raise the latch. In both cases the projections ride along the dwell portion of the cam until the latch has cleared the lug. A second catch 41 is also provided to engage the rear side of the lug 36 to prevent any back lash of the parts, this catch having a beveled nose, as shown in Fig. 1, which is engaged by either one of the lugs upon the forward movement of the same, the catch dropping back by gravity.

In order to adjust the tension which may be applied to the springs 9 of the furrow openers there is loosely mounted on the rock shaft a lever 42, having a laterally-extending lug 43 which stands in the path of the forward side of the arm 28 of the gear segment 27. The lever 42 has a dog 42 slidably mounted therein and operated by the handle 44 to raise it out of engagement with the teeth of a segment 45, fast to the rock shaft. so that it can be dropped into anyone of the teeth of said segment to vary the (listance between the arm 28 and lug 43, the dog being held in engaged position by a spring 42 attached to the handle and lever, respectively. lVhen the lever 42 is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the arm 28 and lug 43 will be in contact with each other so that when the power mechanism is operated the shaft 3 will be rocked to the full extent allowed by the mechanism, so that when the furrow opener reaches the ground, continued movement of the parts applies pressure to the same by compressing the springs between the rocking plate 5 and pin 10.

lVhen, however, the lever 43 is adjusted to the position shown in Fig. 2, the arm 28 and lug 43 will normally be separated to their greatest extent and consequently pressure will not be applied to the furrow opener until the power operated mechanism has moved a distance sufiicient to cause the projection 28 to contact the lug 43 and consequently a less rocking movement will be iniparted to the rock shaft and less tension placed upon the springs of the furrow opener. In fact, when the lever 42 is in the last position, scarcely any'pressure will be applied. the amount of pressure varying as the lever is adjusted on the segment.

In raising the furrow openers, however,

movement of the mechanism. When the mechanism is operated to lower the furrow openers, it is possible for the furrow openers and their connected parts, such as the lifter arms 4 and rock shaft 3, to fall by gravity ahead of the movement of the operating lug 28. If the machine should be traveling over a depression in the ground, this might result in one or more of the furrow openers dropping so far as to break the seed tube connection between the furrow opening boot and the distributer. In order to obviate this, there is formed on the lower end of the lever 42 a projecting tail 46 which contacts the strap 32 and arrests the downward movement of the furrow openers. (Fig. 6). The straps 32 and 33 swing rearwardly by the action of the eccentric,"however, so that further downward movement of the furrow openers after being arrested by the strap 32 is permitted under the action of the arm 28 when it contacts the lug 43 to apply pressure to the springs of the furrow openers to position the furrow openers to the proper depth in the soil.

To furnish an additional support for the rock shaft 3, a bar 47 is provided, the lower end of the bar having a sleeve 47 journaled upon the axle 2 and the upper end of the bar being journaled upon a collar 48 fitted to the rock shaft so as to rotate therewith. Collars 49 secured to the axle 2 by set screws furnish the means for holding all ofthe parts on the axle which have been de-- scribed from lateral movement thereon.

From the construction described it will be seen that the furrow openers will be lifted to a uniform height at each raising operation of the same regardless of the adjustment of the pressure applying devices for the reason that the projection 28 always returns to the same position upon the raising movement thereof and, by its contact with the projection 29, will rock the shaft 3 and the lifter arms 4 to a common place.-

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. In a machine of the character described, a ground breaking device, a rock shaft connected with said device, power operated mechanism for rocking said shaft to raise said device to a uniform height at each raising movement thereof and for applying pressure thereto in the lowered position thereof, and means for varying the rocking movement of said shaft without varying the extent of movement of said power mechasaid device to a unlform height at each raising operation, and means for adjusting thev extent of rocking movement of said shaftto vary the pressure upon said device without varying the uniform movement of sald power mechanism.

3. In a machine of the character described, a ground breaking device, a rock shaft connected with said device, a rotatable operative relation with said rotatable member, said mechanism having a uniform movement and including connections with said rock shaft to raise said ground breaking device at a uniform height at each raising operation, and means for adjusting said connections to vary the pressure applied to said ground breaking device without varying the uniform movement of said power mechanism.

4. In a machine of the character described, a ground breaking device, :a resilient pressure element for said device, a uniformly moving power operated mechanism for raising said device to a uniform height at each raising movement thereof and for applying pressure to said resilient element in the lowered position of said device, and means for varying the pressure applied by said power mechanism on said resilient element without varying the extent of movevarying the extent of movement of said mechanism and independent of the normally adjusted tension of said spring.

6. In a machine of the character described, a ground breaking device, a lifting rod connected to said device, a pressure spring for said device about said rod, a uniformly moving power operated mechanism connected to said rod for raising said device to a uniform helght at each raising movement thereof and for applylng pressure to said spring in the lowered position of said device, and means'for varying said power pressure on said spring without varying the extent of movement of said mechanism and independent of the normally adjusted tension of said spring.

7. In a machine of the character described, a ground breaking device, power operated mechanism for raising said device to a uniform height at each raising move ment thereof, a segment having an operative connectionwith said device, a lever held n different positions of adjustment by said segment, and a part carried by said lever arranged in the path of movement of said mechanism to apply pressure to said device.

8. In a machine of the character described, a rock shaft, a ground breaking device connected therewith, power operated mechanism having a lever arm journaled on said rock shaft, a crank arm fixed to said rock shaft on oneside of said lever arm for raising said ground breaking device, and a lug connected with said rock shaft on the opposite side of said lever arm whereby pressure may be applied to said ground breaking device, and means for adjusting the position of said lug with respect to said lever arm.

9. In a machine of the character described, a ground breaking device, a rotatable axle, a clutch member fixed thereto, a second clutch member loose thereon, manually operated means for throwing said clutch members into engagement and automatic means for disengaging the same after a predetermined movement thereof, and mechanism for connecting said loose clutch with said ground breaking device for lifting said device to a uniform height at each lifting operation and for applying pressure thereto in its lowered position, together with means included in said mechanism for varying the pressure on said device without altering the uniform lifting movement thereof.

10. In a machine of the character described, a rock shaft, a lifter arm connected therewith, a furrow opener, a lifter rod connected with said opener having a slidable connection with said lifter arm, a spring about said rod between said lifter arm and an abutment at its lower end, and a uniformly moving power operated mechanism for rocking said shaft a uniform distance for raising said furrow opener a uniform distance at each operation of said mechanism and also for applying pressure to said spring when said opener is in lowered posi tion, together with means for varying said pressure exerted by said power mechanismwithout varying the extent of movement of said mechanism and independent of the nor- ,mally adjusted tension of said spring.

11. In a machine of the character described, a rock shaft, a lifter arm connected therewith,-a furrow opener, a lifter rod connected with said opener and having a slidable connection with said lifter arm, a spring between said lifter arm and an abutment at the lower end thereof, a toothed segment fixedly connected with said shaft, a lever loosely mounted on said shaft and having a spring-pressed dog for'engagement with the teeth of said segment, to permit adjustment of said lever and a power operated mechanism for rocking said shaft a uniform distance at each operation thereof for effecting a uniform raising of said furrow opener, and a part associated with said adjustable lever arranged to be contacted by another part associated with said power operated mechanism for applying pressure to said spring when said opener is in lowered position to an extent determined by the position of said adjustable lever.

12. In a machine of the character described, a ground breaking device, a spring associated with said ground breaking device for transmitting a yielding pressure thereto,

a uniformly moving power operated mechanism connected with said device for raising the same to a uniform height at each raising movement thereof and for applying pressure to said spring in the lowered position of said device, and means for varying the pressure applied by said mechanism to said spring without varying the extent of movement of said mechanism.

13. In combination with a driven axle and swingable furrow openers of a seeding machine, of means for raising the furrow openers to a fixed and determined height and for lowering the same at option to vary ing working depths, including a rocker member suitably connected with the 'furrow openers to facilitate, through its rocker action,'the raising or lowering of the same, and means actuated by the axle and eccentrically related to the rocker member for rocking the latter, including means for optionally lengthening or shortening the length of movement of the rocker arm in its movement to facilitate lowering of the furrow openers.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 7th day of April, 1919.

ELMER E. TOWLE. 

